Began another beautiful, sunny day with Rick Steves. We jumped northward from France to Belgium for one of my favorite episodes. Brussels and Bruges, the two largest cities in Belgium, also have some of its most attractive medieval architecture. How could you hate a country that loves bikes, French fries (here called Flemish fries), waffles, chocolate, lace, and peace? (Brussels is the home of the headquarters of the European Union.) We also get to see man play a carillon (big bell tower) concert and check out artwork by Belgian masters.
Spent the rest of the morning writing. After leaving Han and Chewie in the marketplace to find someone who knows them, Leia takes their supplies back to the inn. When she comes downstairs, her Uncle Obi-Wan introduces her to Saw Gerrera, the head of the local rebels. They want to keep Palpatine off the throne. Saw's people intercepted proof that Prince Henry, who was previously thought to be dead, is alive and may have been hidden somewhere. He also suspects that Palpatine intends to use the magic he's gathering from other magicians and magical creatures to dominate the Alliance Kingdoms into submission.
Had lunch at 1. Did an episode of Get Smart while I ate and got ready for work. Max is "Our Man In Leotards" when he dons tights in order to join 99 in a ballet troupe. The head of the troupe has stolen a formula for a drug that can paralyze anyone for a few minutes. He intends to use it on the head of his country to stop him from signing a treaty.
Work was a bit more of a pain than yesterday. People and employees weren't in the best moods. I have no idea why. It was another absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and probably in the upper 40's, lower 50's. The snow is more than half-gone. I gathered carts and baskets, bagged, cleaned the bathrooms and under the dairy cases, and tried to avoid most people.
My schedule next week is actually pretty good, probably the best I've had in months. Tuesday and Wednesday off (Wednesday for counseling), with two six-hour days on Friday and Saturday and only one late day. I'll take those two six-hour days that'll probably be busy with Easter shoppers over one 8 1/2-hour day with nothing going on.
Didn't really need a ton of groceries, which is why I wanted to pick them up after work. Found fish fillets for a decent price; grabbed tortillas and decided to have fish tacos for dinner. Restocked sugar (on a good four-day sale), grapefruit, mandarin orange cups, bananas, mushrooms, milk, yogurt, baking powder, baking soda, corn meal, and oatmeal.
As soon as I got home, I put everything away, then made those fish tacos. The were the perfect accompaniment to Coco. The most recent Pixar film takes us to Mexico, as Miguel (Anthony Gonzolez) is preparing to celebrate the Day of the Dead with his family. Their great-great grandmother Imelda (Alanna Ubach) started a shoemaking business after her musician husband left home and never came back. Thanks to his abandoning her, she banished music from the family. Miguel, however, feels the call of the guitar and wants to be as famous a musician as his late idol Ernesto De La Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) someday. When his grandmother (Renee Victor) breaks his guitar, he steals Ernesto's from his tomb to join a local talent show. He's cursed for stealing from a dead man to Land of the Dead, where those who were loved and remembered after death live. Even his dead family members refuse to let him play, and won't give their blessing for his return to the living if he continues to pursue music.
After fleeing them, he encounters Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), a goofy skeleton who is flickering out existence because no one remembers him. All he has to prove he lived is part of a photograph. Miguel agrees to hang the picture of Hector on his family's Day of the Dead shrine if he helps him find Ernesto, whom he believes to be his great-grandfather. But Ernesto is not the sterling hero he makes himself out to be, and Hector is far less foolish than he looks. Miguel has to get both the living and the dead sides of his family to understand how important music is to him...and make sure his Great-Grandma Coco (Ana Ofella Murguia) remembers how much it meant to her.
This was such a lovely movie. It probably would have won Best Animated Picture even in a year when the competition was stronger. They got Mexican culture so right, this was the top-grossing animated feature ever in Mexico. The artwork was stunning, especially the glowing flower-petal bridge and Miguel's first look at the Land of the Dead. Some nice performances too, especially from Gonzolez as the budding musician who wants to prove to his family that music is in his blood, and Bernal as Hector, who just wants to be remembered for something. Great music, too; the theme song "Remember Me" also won an Oscar.
Dark themes and fairly frank discussions of death, murder, and abandonment make this iffy for very young kids. For late elementary-schoolers onward who enjoy learning about other cultures, Coco is a gorgeous, unique film that's highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment